Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. And what better way to spend it than with your family. It is a tradition with my family to play lots of different games. These games are pretty much all high energy, and exciting, so be ready to play! One of our all time favorites are spoons, and cards. Spoons is a really exciting game that keeps everybody on the edge of their chair ready to jump.
Planning the beginning of a Christmas party is easy. Your guests arrive, you get them something to drink while they make small talk and then it’s time to eat. What do you do after the meal though? Many Christmas parties slow to almost a complete halt at this exact point. The reason? Too many adults have forgotten how to have fun. If you are the one throwing the party it is your job to remind them. So when you are done planning the dinner get ready to plan out the games as well.
Whatever you do don’t let yourself fall into the “stuffy adult” trap. Simply put, don’t be embarrassed to suggest playing games just because you think it will make you look childish in the eyes of your guests. That’s the whole point! During Christmas time we should all be rediscovering our inner child.
When deciding what games you would like to play at your party you have two main categories to choose from. You can play Christmas themed games, standard games or a mixture of both. Here are a few options from both categories:
Christmas Themed
1) Christmas Movie Trivia – Every family has their favorite Christmas movies that they love to watch every year (A Christmas Story, Winter Wonderland, It’s A Wonderful Life, etc.) and this offers a great opportunity for a homemade trivia game. Separate everyone who wants to play into two teams and write down trivia questions to try and stump your opponents. The most common wager put on the game … losing team does the dishes before they leave! Don’t worry if there is any debate about an answer. Sitting down and watching the movie you love so much is a great way to settle it.
2) Name That Tune: The Christmas Addition – A holiday twist on a classic game. One player hums a few seconds of a holiday tune (three seconds at most) and the first person to correctly guess the song wins the round. You can either play this for a set number of rounds to see who the overall winner is or just play it sporadically throughout the night without keeping score. Either way your guests will have a lot of fun with it.
3) Where’s Santa? – This simple game can be played throughout the entire party and takes very little time to set up. First, go online and print at least twenty small pictures of Santa Clause. Now cut them out and hide them all around the areas of the house where your guests will be. As soon as everyone has arrived supply them with a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Show them an example of the Santa Clause picture and instruct them to write down all the random places they find him throughout the party. At the end find out who has found the most, reveal the locations of ones no one found and hand out prizes to the winners. If you have a lot of small children at your party make sure you have some type of prize for them as well no matter how many Santa’s they find, this will make sure they have fun with it as well.
Standard Games
1) Twister – OK I’ll admit it, this one is getting listed first because it happens to be one of my personal favorites. I challenge each anyone out there to find someone who’s eyes do not light up when a Twister board gets brought out. Will everyone at the party be able to play … probably not. Older age family members and anyone who is injured may have to sit this one out, but they will have as much fun as anyone watching their family and friends twist themselves like a pretzel before falling down laughing.
2) Charades – Some people suggest doing a strictly Christmas themed game of Charades but this is in some ways far to limited. If you already know it’s going to be in the Christmas category it becomes a lot less challenging to get the right answer. Instead try playing a regular game of Charades with the occasional Christmas only round thrown in. This is a great game that everyone can participate in regardless of age or physical abilities.
3) Card Games – Everyone has their favorite card games and in most cases they are more then willing to teach them to new people. Set out a few packs of playing cards and encourage your guests to start playing. A lot of games can be played with as few as two players. If there is any debate on the rules or if you have a game that you can’t remember all the rules of visit http://www.pagat.com/alpha.html and see if your games rules are listed.
Even if you have guests that don’t actively participate in the games, you might be surprised how many of them open up and start enjoying themselves more by just watching. Games like these bring back memories of happier and less stressful times for people in every generation, and in the end, bringing happiness is what Christmas is all about.
Any game can be turned in to a fun family Christmas game, and even the adults will have a ball. It could turn out to be a new and fun tradition for everyone!